Bach Sinfonias (Three-Part Inventions), BWV 787-801
15 sinfonias, free to read, hear and print, in the composer's own order.
Open the sheet music libraryThe companions to the two-part inventions: fifteen pieces in three voices, written for the same pupils in the same keys and copied into the same book in 1723. With three lines and two hands, one voice has to be shared between them, which is exactly the skill Bach meant them to teach.
They are in Bach's order here. The F minor Sinfonia, No. 9, is the one players fall for, slow and chromatic and close to grief; the others run from gentle dances to brisk counterpoint, and every one plays back so you can follow each line on its own.
About the pieces
BWV 787: Sinfonia I - Harpsichord sound
This is an orchestral symphony set for two hands, the way most people met this music before recordings existed. Bach wrote most of his keyboard music to teach with, for his own children and pupils, which is why it still teaches so well.
BWV 788: Sinfonia II - Harpsichord sound
This is an orchestral symphony set for two hands, the way most people met this music before recordings existed. Bach wrote most of his keyboard music to teach with, for his own children and pupils, which is why it still teaches so well.
Sinfonia No. 3 in D Major (3-part Invention)
Bach called them sinfonias; everybody else calls them the three-part inventions. They are the step up from the two-part set, written for the same purpose: to teach a singing style of playing and a taste for composition.
Sinfonia No. 4 in D Minor (3-part Invention)
Bach called them sinfonias; everybody else calls them the three-part inventions. They are the step up from the two-part set, written for the same purpose: to teach a singing style of playing and a taste for composition.
Sinfonia No. 5 in E flat Major (3-part Invention)
Bach called these sinfonias; everyone else calls them three-part inventions. They are the next step after the two-part set, with a third voice to hold.
Sinfonia No. 6 in E major, BWV 792
One of the fifteen three-part Sinfonias Bach copied out in 1723 for his students, which his preface says were meant to teach a singing style of playing as well as independent hands. This one flows in 9/8 and is built on a rising scale in quavers that each voice takes up in turn over held notes.
Sinfonia No. 7 in E minor, BWV 793
One of the slower, darker Sinfonias, set in a grave 3/4 where the voices move in long sighing lines and chromatic steps. After all that minor-key weight it closes on an E major chord.
Sinfonia No. 8 in F major, BWV 794
One of Bach's fifteen three-part Sinfonias, and among the most approachable of them. The upper voices chase each other in quick, cheerful semiquaver figures while the bass moves more steadily underneath.
Sinfonia No. 9 in F minor, BWV 795
The ninth of Bach's three-part sinfonias is the most sorrowful of the set. A chromatic bass line creeps downwards step by step while the upper voices trade a sighing figure, so three different ideas sound at once.
Sinfonia No. 10 in G major, BWV 796
The tenth sinfonia is one of the brightest in the set: a cheerful subject built from rising broken chords is tossed between three voices in 3/4. The textures are open and the harmony rarely strays far from home.
Sinfonia No. 11 in G minor, BWV 797
The eleventh of Bach's three-part sinfonias moves in a gentle 3/8 with long held notes in one voice while another flows in semiquavers above or below. It feels more like a slow dance than a study.
Sinfonia No. 12 in A major, BWV 798
The twelfth of the three-part Sinfonias, one of the brightest of the set. Its subject begins with a little A to G sharp to A turn and quickly fills out into running semiquavers.
Sinfonia No. 13 in A minor, BWV 799
The thirteenth of the fifteen Sinfonias moves in a quick 3/8, with a subject of a crotchet and a quaver that keeps it swinging like a dance. The three voices trade the subject back and forth, and it ends with a bright A major chord.
Sinfonia No. 14 in B-flat major, BWV 800
The fourteenth of Bach's fifteen three-part Sinfonias, the companions to the two-part Inventions that he gathered as teaching pieces for his students. Three voices trade the opening figure, a held note that breaks into a quick run, all the way through, and the harmony stays bright and settled almost to the end.
Sinfonia 15 BWV 801 in B minor
This is an orchestral symphony set for two hands, the way most people met this music before recordings existed. Bach wrote most of his keyboard music to teach with, for his own children and pupils, which is why it still teaches so well.